Retired players and budding talents will both get an opportunity when a worldwide Twenty20 format starts this year, former Australia bowler Shane Warne said Monday. Warne, 40, was speaking at a news conference at Lord's to launch a global Twenty20 brand involving teams from the major cricket nations. He is captain of the Indian Premier League (IPL) team Rajasthan Royals who won the inaugural title in 2008. “Once you've finished and you've still got a drive for the game what avenue is there to go out and play? You might get back to local cricket or grass-roots development, but if you're good enough the IPL is one option,” Warne told Reuters. Rather than hinder the development of up-and-coming players, Warne believes the fusion of the veterans and the fresh-faced can only have positive results. “Young Indian players for Rajasthan might be able to go to Hampshire, Cape Town or Trinidad to hone their cricket skills and also learn life skills. There's nothing like it in the world that's open to those sort of people,” he said. The Royals have joined forces with England's Hampshire, South African team Cape Cobras and West Indian club Trinidad and Tobago, as well as a yet-to-be confirmed Australia state team to form the competition. Organizers said they were looking to stage the first Royals 2020 event in July during a ‘window' in the English season, with matches in either Australia or South Africa during the Christmas holiday period in December. The Australian retired from cricket in 2007 after a glittering Test career in which he took 708 wickets in 145 matches, only bettered by Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan who is nearing 800 scalps. Now plying his trade in the Twenty20 format, Warne is happy to help players such as former teammate and batsman Damien Martyn reignite their passion for the sport. “The reason I went to Damien is because when I asked him ‘How keen are you?' he said ‘I'm pumped. I've got a hunger and a drive to go and play cricket again. “I said ‘We'll back you but you've got to be in it for the right reasons', to which he replied ‘I'll do it for nothing.' “He's bought a bowling machine and is really excited about playing.” Martyn, 38, played 67 Tests for an average of 46.37, and is one of a handful of former Australian players to emerge from retirement and play in the lucrative IPL. Compatriots Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath are other examples. “It's a great opportunity to come out and play,” said a shivering Warne, diving for cover into a Lord's box as snow fell on the headquarters of world cricket. ‘IPL safe' Warne has urged his fellow Australians to play in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) despite threats from an Indian political party. The Mumbai-based Shiv Sena, a right-wing party, has said Australians will be barred from playing matches in the city in retaliation for recent attacks on Indians living in Australia, including last month's murder of 21-year-old Punjabi Nitin Garg in Melbourne - Warne's home town. But Warne, captain and coach of the Rajasthan Royals, told reporters at Lord's here Monday: “As far as I've said, and what I have heard and read, I've got no security issues whatsoever. “There's been things put in the press about minority incidents happening in Melbourne, which is a terrible shame and very unfortunate. I've been meeting with the premier of Victoria (John Brumby) to address a lot of those issues and come up with a plan to help the relationship between India and Australia,” Warne said. “As far as the IPL is concerned, I have absolutely no concerns whatsoever. I'm sure the other Australian players will be looking forward to it too.” Warne, who led Rajasthan to victory in 2008, added: “There's a lot of security with the teams. I've got no issue whatsoever traveling to India.”
